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RE: "THEM"- And THEY did very well on a low-budget science fiction movie

Posted by Bambi B on May 14, 2008 at 09:54:10:
patrickU,

I'm pleased that you brought "THRM" an often overlooked 1954 science-fiction movie. It's a good example of science fiction with a small budget and the relatively crude special effects of the 50's responding to good casting and directorial decisions. Other examples would be "The Thing from Outer Space"- that had a lot of input from Howard Hawks, the original "Night of the Living Dead" of 1968 and of course "The Day the Earth Stood Still".

For those who don't know it, the story concerns people coming up against atomically mutated giant ants with Edmund Gwenn- Kris Kringle in "Mircle on 34th St." and the brilliant sea captain of "The Trouble with Harry", deciding what to do about them. I always liked Gwenn, who I think of as Charles Laughton's non-neurotic brother,.. You'll also see some other brand name actors: James Arness- also "The Thing", James Whitmore as the police captain, and Fess Parker- Daniel Boone on TV.

The whole premise seems naive and silly Cold War/nuclear paranoia looking back, but the internal logic is strong and the structure and editing creates tension. The scenes early on in the wrecked store in the desert with the wind howling sand storm are really well done and suspenseful and when the little traumatised girl wakes up from catatonia and screams wide-eyed "THEM" is still quite chilling. Even the helicopter overflight of the giant ant nest has effective, chilling detail- the human bones lining the entrance. Just as in "Alien", there's much more tension while the giant ants are unseen - as they are more visible the supsension of discbelief drops away, but it's worthwhile watching.

A "B" movie yes, but I sometimes really crave movies like "THEM" as a relief from hysterically vertigious CG blasts with an edit every 1/8th second and 14 layers of 120db hyper-sound.

Cheers,

Bambi B